CNN/SI, the 24-hour, all-sports channel, will
officially launch today, with Time Warner Chair Gerald Levin
and Vice Chair Ted Turner presiding over the premiere at
8:00pm ET from the Western Cable Convention in Anaheim, CA.
CNN/SI will simulcast on CNN during the 11:00pm ET time slot
of CNN's "Sports Tonight." The show will now be called
"CNN/Sports Illustrated." Additional simulcasts will be at
1:30-2:00am on weekdays, 11:00-12:00pm ET on Saturday and
8:30-9:00pm ET and 1:00-1:30am on weekends (THE DAILY).
ARE YOU READY? In Philadelphia, Mike Bruton notes the
"strength of CNN/SI is resources," both journalistic and
technological. CNN/SI also wants to add a bureau in Havana,
Cuba. As far as distribution, CNN/SI Exec Jim Walton said
the channel would be launched in more than the 1.5 million
homes that ESPN debuted in, but "distribution is going to be
a problem for a while" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 12/12). USA
TODAY's Michael Hiestand notes CNN/SI starts with 500,000
paid subscribers and another 500,000 households receiving it
if they pay a premium. Through C-Band satellite dishes,
CNN/SI claims to add another 4 million households (USA
TODAY, 12/12). In Baltimore, Milton Kent notes "serious
potholes in the road for CNN/SI" are the lack of channel
space and competition from ESPNEWS. Kent: "Will it work?
No one knows for sure, but the competition should be fun"
(Baltimore SUN, 12/12). In K.C, CNN/SI is part of Metro
Sports, the area's first. 24-hour sports channel of local
and national news on American Cablevision. Metro Sports
will carry six hours of local and regional news, CNN/SI will
fill the rest of the schedule (K.C. STAR, 12/12).
